Gun violence occurs every day in America, but this story out of Indianapolis is a particularly harrowing one. As it turns out, the curiosity of a child led one 4-year-old girl to pick up a gun that she discovered in her family’s home. She ended up accidentally shooting her mother in the head and shooting herself as well.
The gun in question sat on the nightstand of an engaged couple with multiple children all living in the same household. The man awoke to the sound of a gunshot and discovered that the child had shot herself in the cheek. The same bullet ricocheted and struck the mother too. A 2-year-old boy was also reportedly in the room but escaped without injury:
A spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department told IndyStar that the child accidentally shot herself and her mother when she grabbed a gun from the nightstand and shot herself in the cheek.
“When officers arrived, they came into contact with the father of the 4-year-old who stated that he and his fiancé were asleep when he was awakened by the sound of the gunshot,” according to an IMPD news release.
The father told police that the other children in the home were not injured, and miraculously, both mother and child survived their injuries. Both were rushed to the hospital with the child reported in stable condition and the mother requiring surgery but later regaining consciousness. Child Protective Services is conducting a thorough investigation into the incident, although the unaffected children have reportedly been released into the father’s custody.
(Via IndyStar)